Fugitive from Oklahoma arrested in Effingham

Strother Jackson

A man wanted on armed robbery charges in Oklahoma was apprehended in Effingham County over the weekend.

Strother Jackson, 34, of Lawton, Okla., was arrested by Effingham County Sheriff’s Office deputies early Saturday morning in Springfield.

Oklahoma officials along with the U.S. Marshals Service had been searching for Jackson in connection with multiple armed robberies, according to Lt. William Grimes of the Lawton Police Department.

Jackson was the only suspect in a convenience store robbery, Grimes said, and he also witnessed a robbery in which a woman was shot and injured.

“Jackson confessed over the phone to the (convenience store) robbery,” Grimes said. “He also stated that he was with one of our other suspects while she committed several other robberies.”

Also as part of that phone conversation, according to Grimes, Jackson told a Lawton detective he was “visiting people in Georgia” when he was arrested. Lawton and Effingham authorities were not sure what Jackson’s ties to this area might be.

“According to the report, authorities believe he may have fled (from Oklahoma) to the Atlanta area,” said ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor.

Jackson then made his way to Effingham. The ECSO received information that he was at a mobile home park in Springfield and placed the area under surveillance, Ehsanipoor said.

Deputies saw a man matching Jackson’s description among a crowd of people on Quail Run Circle shortly after midnight Saturday, according to Ehsanipoor. However, Jackson initially refused to identify himself.

“He said, ‘You don’t want to know who I am,’” Ehsanipoor said, adding that investigators were able to make a positive identification and Jackson acknowledged, “That’s me.”

Jackson was taken into custody and is being held in the Effingham County Jail awaiting extradition to Oklahoma. He had multiple warrants out of various counties and has served two previous prison sentences, according to Grimes.